New Family
by SweetBrownie
Summary: Carl decides to adobt a small dragon and takes it home.
1. Chapter 1: Saturday, 12th May, 1956

Saturday, 12th May, 1956

Never would Carl get the idea himself. This is something he figures that Ellie would have, she's the crazier of them. But now, when the idea have been presented to him by this sudden appearance of a batch with newly hatched dragons, he can feel himself proud that he have gotten it. Yes, it might be a bit on the abnormal side, but this might be the one thing that can mend the big, black hole that is in their life. Something to care for, like the child that they never have been able to produce.

"Are you sure that you can handle a dragon?" the zookeeper, Mr. Fredricksen's colleague from work, asks. "The personality of a dragon as newly hatched as this one can be anything from very calm to extremely aggressive. Her personality have not been evaluated to the fullest yet, even though that some things can be assumed for a Nightfury."

"Of course I'm sure, or else I wouldn't have come here." The small dragon quavers in the small cat carrier, as she presses herself into the farthest corner she can get to. Carl feel sorry for this small dragon; her mother died shortly after this small dragon have emerged from the egg. A sudden illness, as far as Mr. Fredricksen have been told, that have taken a turn for the worse in the most untimed of periods.

One by one the brood of small dragon-hatchlings have been taken care of by many different people. Some of them have been volunteers, others have been different zookeepers. In the end there have been only the little runt left; the smallest, the sickest and the one with the most problems.

"Poor little thing," Carl's colleague says as the two observes the creature in the carrier thru the grid entry in the front. "She have extremely dry skin, so you can surely understand the eczema. It is worst on her wings, her feet and the appendages on her head."

Mr. Fredricksen can see the bandages that have been wrapped around her chest the best from the dim interior of the carrier; it traps her small wings closely to her frame, which have been folded closely to her back. Most of the rest of her is hiding under a smaller blanket that have been put in there with her to give the small dragon comfort and a sense of security. He can imagine that same kind of bandage is around her head and her feet as well.

"Nothing that ointment can't fix, surely?" Carl asks and looks up at the zookeeper with hope in his mind, as they both straightens up.

"Yes, it will. But there is one small problem: she is very timid."

"That is only to be expected, I supposed," Mr. Fredricksen waves away. "Most children are shy to strangers." But then he gives it another thought, and he finds himself remembering that puppies usually are quite outgoing to anyone and everyone. Maybe timid behavior to strangers only goes for human children. Then he shakes his head, as he feels stupid. Can he really compare kids of different species; all kinds of animals have different standards.

"Well, getting the ointment on can get problematic when she refuse to get touched," argues the colleague. "When we tried to get a hold of her before she led a chase around the whole room. We had to give her light sedatives just to get her calm enough to treat the eczema."

"It's that bad?" Carl can see the problem in that; how is he and Ellie going to put new salver and bandages on the young dragon if she don't want anything else than to be left alone? "Well, let me and Ellie try to warm her up, and we'll see what we can do from there."

"Of course."

Mr. Fredricksen takes the cat carrier from the table, and thanks the zookeeper when the colleague hands him two dog bowls and some toys in a bag. When Carl gets to the exit he gets his coat over his arm and puts his hat on his head before he turns to face his friend. "Do she have any name, by the way?"

"Annabelle."

* * *

It didn't take long for Carl to come home to his and Ellie's house; not much traffic tend to be out in the middle of a Saturday. When it comes to the weekend he figures that a majority of the human population thinks on the same thing: to rest from the workload that have been the rest of the week.

As he takes the cat carrier out of the car he minds not to rock it too much or too fiercely. He haven't heard one single sound from the Nightfury, and he don't know if that is something he should worry about.

"Ellie?" he calls when he comes in thru the front door. "I'm home, honey!"

There is no answer, and as he comes into the living-room he gets the answer to why. On a small note that is lying on Carl's armchair by the big windows there is Ellie's swirling handwriting. On it she explains that she is currently on a short visit to her mother, but that she is to be back around three on the afternoon. Carl looks up at the cuckoo clock on the wall to see that it is currently half past one; Ellie is to come home in about one and a half hours.

Carl gets a knot in his stomach. He feels deep down that he knows the reason for Ellie to visit her mother. It is about the sad news that she isn't able to bear any children. When the both of them have prepared a room for a child and everything, the devastating crash this discovery sends all their plans for adding another member into their family into the ground. It takes a toll on them both, but maybe the most for Ellie.

Mr. Fredricksen places down the cat carrier onto the floor, with the back of the toys and the bowls beside it. Annabelle is still to make a sound, and when he bends down on all four to peer in on the small dragon he sees that she is still to move out from the blanket. If anything, she have hidden more of herself under the fabric. Carl can still see her, though; the tip of her nose is peeking out from under the blanket.

"Hello there," he tries with a soft voice. "My name is Carl."

There is no reaction.

"That's not enough for you to open up, huh? Yeah, I suspected as much."

With that he gets up on his feet again. He scratches his head for just a moment, as he wonders how to proceed next. Then he gets an idea, and heads to the kitchen. After just a minute he is back with a cup plate with a few, small scraps of the codfish that he and Ellie have been planning on eating to dinner.

"See what I have here, Annabelle," he says while he gets down on his stomach in front of the carrier. "Something that I know you love."

It is a common fact that all dragons' eats fish, and Nightfuries are no different. Carl have no idea when just this Nightfury last have eaten, but it must have been quite a few hours ago. But even so, Annabelle don't make a move to get the small piece of cod that Carl holds near the grid.

"Come on, I bet that you are at least a little bit hungry."

Nothing. Not anything at all.

Carl sighs. He guessed already at the zoo that the dragon wouldn't warm up to him the very first day, neither the first week. But he decides that the dragon must eat something, so in good hopes he carefully opens the grid. He puts the cup plate with the codfish on it inside the carrier, then he closes the grid again.

After that he puts a thin blanket over the carrier, to give the dragon some more privacy. Then he decides to sit down and read a book while he await Ellie.

* * *

Ellie comes home about ten minutes before three. When Carl comes to greet her he sees that she have been crying, even though she tries to put on a brave face in a try to hide it. He is in that moment dead certain he have been right about her visit to her mother, and his heart sinks to his stomach.

She sees Carl's grim face, and she halts just for a moment to observe him. Then she breaks into a sad smile, and brings up a hand to put on his one cheek in a soothing manner. His worry for her wavers for a bit at this, but don't disappear.

"My dear Carl," Ellie speaks up. "The last thing you should do is to worry for me."

At those words his concern goes away completely, and he smiles back at her. "I know, Ellie. I know." He takes his hand up to rest it on hers, which she still have on his cheek. Her hand is so soft and warm, and he wonders, like many other times, how her hands can be like that. He looks into her eyes, and he can see that they display the same softness and warmth. Even though she is the most adventurous person he knows, that softness and warmth in her eyes never fails to shine thru.

Several seconds must have gone by before Carl remembers about the surprise in the living room. He takes a hold of her hand and brings them both down. He don't let it go, though, but guides her to the living room by the hold.

"I have someone that I like to introduce you to," he explains as he stops in front of the cat carrier, that still have a blanket on it.

"Carl, have you bought a cat?" Ellie questions as she sees the carrier. She looks up at her husband with curiosity.

"See for yourself." With the smile still on his lips he can feel that she surely is going to like what she sees.

Ellie goes down on her all four, and folds up the blanket by the entry. She squints into the dark space within, and after a second she gives a gasp. She turns to look at Carl, surprise evident in her face. But in those warm, soft eyes of hers he sees that she most like the surprise. The smile comes to her only the second after.

"Her name is Annabelle," he explains. "And she needs someone to take care of her."

"How beautiful," she smiles as she looks back into the carrier. Carl gets down beside her and takes a quick look at the cup plate he have placed inside the carrier earlier. To his mild astonishment the fish haven't been touched. Neither have Annabelle moved out from under the fabric of the blanket inside the carrier.

"Strange," he breaths and points at the codfish. "I thought that she should have at least tasted it."

Ellie leans in to get a better look at the blanket at the farthest wall of the carrier. She studies what little can be seen of the Nightfury for several long seconds. Then she slowly opens the entry, and moves the cup plate out of the way. With gentle movements he reaches in and pulls the fabric back where the tip of the nose is to reveal the head.

The eyes are big of fright, and scared whimpers are hear from Annabelle the moment the lights hit them. Ellie's hand pauses, and she puts on a gentle smile. "It's okay, baby," she shushes. "It's alright." With that she lets the blanket go and grabs under the whole little package, Nightfury and fabric and all, to bring everything with big tender out into the living room.

She is not any bigger than a grown cat, even smaller. But that don't stop Annabelle to squirm as much as she can while she is brought out, as she tries to flee the grip around her. But the blanket that have served as her earlier hiding-spot is now aiding to keep the Nightfury from returning to the carrier.

In the proper light of the house light both Carl and Ellie can clearly see the white bandage around the head. "Oh, poor thing," Ellie gasps. "Are you hurt?"

"She have really dry skin," Carl explains. "She have eczema on her wings, feet and on the appendages on her head."

"What a bad thing to have," Ellie mollycoddles, absolutely in love with the young dragon.

"But the zoo keeper said that these things will usually get better, and in some cases disappear completely when she have gotten to the teens or adulthood."

Ellie takes a better grip of the small bundle and hugs it tenderly. "Oh, Carl. She's just perfect the way she is."


	2. Chapter 2: May, 1956, to April, 1978

Sunday, 27th May, to Saturday, 3th November, 1956

When the zookeeper said that Annabelle is timid it wasn't a lie. It takes several months before she starts to come out of the cat carrier by her own accord, and even then she runs back in as soon as there is a noise or when either Carl or Ellie comes too close.

When it comes to the ointment it gets a bit tricky with her timid nature. Ellie and Carl have to work together; one of them had to hold onto the little Nightfury while the other handled the bandages and the ointment. It's not funny for any of them, as Annabelle squeals all the while and the two humans feels like they are hurting her.

It goes like that until one day Ellie have enough of it. "If we keep going like this she will think that we are trying to kill her," Ellie says with desperation. "What are we going to do?"

"You are right, dear," Carl thinks. "Maybe we need to get her trust, and work from there."

So the treatment for the dry skin stops, and instead Ellie and Carl tries different ideas to make Annabelle to feel more safe. For example, they put different kind of fish right outside of the carrier, and after many tries they find that Annabelle likes tuna the best. At first they are forced to leave the fish just outside of her little box, as she refuses to come out that much. But the they let the plate with food be further and further from the box, and the small dragon goes further and further away from the carrier to eat.

Other times they give the different toys a shot, and finds that a certain red feather in the end of a string is the favorite. At the beginning only played with the toy in the opening of the carrier, but bit by tiny bit she comes further and further out of the box to play. In the end they even find that a flashlight seems to make her more comfortable, as Annabelle chases the light anywhere it goes.

In the end of the third month after they got Annabelle the Nightfury starts to get more comfortable. She dares to be outside the carrier for longer and more often. She don't run back as fast when she gets scared. And finally, in the fourth month, another progress is made; when Ellie comes close Annabelle don't run back into the carrier. Instead she carefully gets closer to the human, and with uncertain movements sniffs at her legs.

Ellie gets tears in her eyes at the sight. "Carl," she calls softly. "Carl, come quick."

"What is it?" Carl's voice comes from around the corner before the man himself turns up to see the scene. "Oh, Ellie..."

Annabelle keeps on sniffing Ellie's legs for a few more seconds as the two humans look on in silence and amazement before the dragon finally retreats back to the safety of the carrier.

"We're starting to get to her, Carl," Ellie cries. "We are finally starting to get to her." She finds this a magical moment, as she thinks that this is the closest thing to a kid she ever are going to get. She have always wanted to have a child, but have never had the ability to get one.

After that Annabelle comes bit by bit out of her shell. In the fifth month she lets Carl give her a single pat on the back. In the sixth month the dragon lets Ellie hold her. And in the seventh month, one cold night in November, the little Nightfury carefully comes into the pair's room and hops into the warmth of their bed. And there she sleeps all night

* * *

Wednesday, 28th November, 1956

Annabelle lies in Ellie's arms, half asleep in the warmth that comes of the human. Ellie sits in her armchair by the big windows in the front of the house, and let's the afternoon's last light reflect the happiness from her face. Carl sits in his armchair by her side, and just smiles at the sight.

"Carl," Ellie suddenly says, and looks over to her husband. "I think that we might try the ointment again."

"Are you sure, dearest? It haven't gone that long since last time."

"Yes, I'm sure."

So Carl goes to get the ointment while Ellie carefully takes off the bandages around Annabelle's head without waking the dragon up. When Carl comes back he kneels before his wife, puts some of the ointment on his fingers and starts to very carefully rub it in on the dry skin. At first the dragon doesn't react, as she is still sleeping. But then she slowly wakes up from the touch of Carl.

As she realizes what he does her eyes shots open, stares right at him and freezes up. At the sight of it Carl stops rubbing in the ointment in fear of doing something wrong. But Ellie is quick to aid him.

"Sh, sh, sh," she hushes with a calming voice. "There, there, Annabelle. It's alright."

The dragon's eyes flicks to her face, then to the ointment on Carl's fingers and lastly to Carl's face. That's when Carl realizes that she don't quite trust them with her dry skin yet, that it is still a small gap left. After a second of staring into those deep green eyes though, as green as Ellie's eyes, he remembers something.

It is from a nature documentary on the TV. That episode was just about dragons, and how the first people discovered how to tame and befriend dragons in the old times. There they showed this thing, that signifies trust between dragon and dragon rider.

So Carl decides to try it. He takes up his clean hand and puts his palm a few centimeters from Annabelle's nose. And there he lets his hand to wait, while he observes what the small dragon does. She observes the hand for a few seconds, then she stretches forward with her head and press her nose gently into the free palm.

And just like that, the small gap of distrust is gone. He instinctly knows that Annabelle now will allow Carl to keep putting the ointment onto her dry skin.

And that he does. And when he's done with all the dry places they celebrate with some tuna.

* * *

Sunday, 12th January, to Thursday, 20th February, 1958

It have just been a few days after new year that the symptoms starts to appear. The runny nose, the hacking cough, the glossy eyes. Annabelle is sick, and not a little. Her fever goes thru the roof, and she have not any power to do anything. They go to the veterinarian that works at the zoo that they work on, a certain Fiona, and all she can do is to give them some medicine and send them home.

Carl and Ellie takes vacation for a few weeks, and takes turns to watch over Annabelle. They stay up late to look for any improvements, they barely sleep in fear to miss anything and they can't relax as they aren't sure if the Nightfury will be alright.

But in the end Annabelle gets better, and by the 20th February she is up on her feet again. But not before Ellie, one late night, sees Carl with the little Nightfury in his arms, singing a lullaby. The two are so caught up in what they are doing that they don't ever realize that Ellie takes a picture of the moment to treasure forever.

* * *

Thursday, 12th May, 1966

It have gone ten years on the day since Ellie and Carl got Annabelle. And on this day, every year, they celebrate her arrival. They see this day much as her birthday. Every year she gets a cake, a few new toys and a kiss on the forehead from Ellie. Annabelle have grow much these ten years.

Annabelle's dry skin have gotten much better, and this year they decide that she don't need the bandages. As they take of the bandages from around her wings she stretches them far and wide. And that's when it hits Carl and Ellie that she might never have learned how to fly. And what better teacher to learn a dragon how to fly than a dragon rider with another dragon?

So they bring Annabelle to the old dragon academy to see if they can give her a first assessment and some training.

"Dragons usually start to fly at a young age, so this might get a bit tricky," the trainer, Sanders, says as he looks at Annabelle. He points to her wings. "She seems to have minimum muscles in her wings, and the membrane seems awfully scared."

"Yeah, she had some problems with dry skin when she was younger," Carl tells him. "So we had to have her wrapped up with bandages like a package."

"Ah, I see. So she have been ground bound her entire life?"

"Yes."

"That might create some troubles. She might just be content to live on the ground, and don't see the use of flying. She might not even realize that she have the ability to fly. Have she been socialized with other dragons?"

"No, there have not been many dragons in our neighborhood."

"In that case, the first thing we should do is to introduce her to some dragons."

So Annabelle is brought to some other dragons, all with the know-how to fly. The younger dragon looks on in wonder at the others as they fly here and there around the academy's roomy yard. At one time she looks at her own underdeveloped wings and flaps them in a try to get airborne, but gets quickly tired and gives up.

"The will to fly seems there, at least," Sanders comments. "It's always a beginning. If you allow, I like to keep her a few months to try to train her myself a bit."

"Of course," Ellie replies with a hint of worry. "But she have never been away from us for more than a few hours at most."

"You can come and visit her any time. And it might help her to have something that reminds her of home. Otherwise, I get the feeling that she might get so much to think about that she just forget to miss anything."

Ellie and Carl gets home to get the blanket she have had for her whole life, the one she arrived with. They also pack a few of her favorite toys as well. After that they go back to the dragon academy to say one last goodbye to Annabelle for the day.

* * *

Tuesday, 9th August, to Wednesday, 10th December, 1966

The difference is overwhelming. Annabelle's muscles in her wings have grown exponentially. And she have even tried out to fly, but so far she only have the strength to fly up a few meters and then glide back to the ground.

"You must do these exercises with her everyday," Sanders says and hands Carl and Ellie a few papers with instructions on. "Otherwise her own curiosity will see to it that she starts flying." The pair thanks him heartily and then goes to meet up with Annabelle.

After that Carl and Ellie see to it that Annabelle does the exercises after work each day. And by christmas Annabelle can fly several dozen of meters, but mostly she just glide down from high places or rides with the wind.

* * *

Wednesday, 12th April, 1978

By the year of -78 Annabelle have grown to her full size and have gotten to adult age. She can barely move inside of the house without knocking anything down. Since the pair have been to the dragon academy they have stayed in touch with Sanders, and have gotten a few tips here and there on how to raise the Nightfury.

But in February of -78 he comes with a sad warning. "This is the time that the dragons usually leaves their nest to explore the world," he writes in a letter. "She even can come to seek a mate soon."

And true to Sanders warning, the 12th of April Carl and Ellie finds Annabelle awaits them outside the house.

"Carl, I think it's time for her to go," Ellie says with a sad voice, as she reads the dragon's green eyes.

"I don't know, Ellie. Is she really ready for it?"

"I think she is."

Carl turns to Annabelle. "Can't you stay just a few more years?" She shakes her head as she gives a sad rumble. With a sigh Carl looks into those big eyes, that reminds him so much of Ellie. "Ok, then," he says and puts his arms out. "Come here, give me a hug goodbye."

Annabelle stands up on her hind legs and comes into his arms. On her back legs she is huge, but that don't deter Carl. Afterwards Annabelle waddles, still on her hind legs, over to Ellie and gives her a hug, too. Then she gets back on all four, spreads her wings and takes of.


End file.
